California avocado consumers have variety of options

Hass is by far the most popular avocado variety gown in California, but consumers who crave other kinds of avocados have a number of options available from the state’s growers.
Reed, lamb hass, fuerte, bacon and zutano are just a few of those choices.

Del Rey Avocado Co. Inc., Fallbrook, Calif., has offered the reed variety for several years, said partner Bob Lucy.

The specialtyproduce.com website says the reed is a round fruit about the size of a softball, can weigh more than 1 pound and has a thick, green, slightly pebbled skin that is easy to peel and a pale, golden-yellow flesh.

Del Rey offers it from June 1 through September.

Most reed customers are on the West Coast, though some are in the East, Lucy said.

“It’s a nice switch for retailers looking for something different,” he said. But he added that it does not displace the hass variety.

Calavo Growers Inc., Santa Paula, Calif., offers lamb hass starting in late June, said Rob Wedin, vice president of sales and marketing.

Lamb hass avocados are larger than hass, weighing 10-18 ounces, the website says.

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They are pear- or oval-shaped and have flat, squared shoulders with pebbly skin that is very dark green and continues to darken to almost black as it matures.

The skin of lamb hass avocados can be easily peeled to reveal the pale green flesh.

Wedin said it’s “almost exactly like hass, but not quite.”

Calavo just finished shipping the bacon variety and some fuertes in late February.

The fuerte avocado, said to be California’s first commercial variety, is green, pear-shaped and ranges from 6-12 ounces.

Bacon avocados are dark green with faint speckles. They’re oval-shaped with a smooth, thin skin and have a pale yellow-green flesh.

Los Angeles-based The Giumarra Cos. offers lamb hass, reeds, fuertes and zutanos, depending on time of year, said Gary Caloroso, regional business development director.

The zutano avocado resembles the fuerte and has a pear shape with a thin, glossy green skin, which remains green even when ripe, according to producemarketguide.com.

Smaller, upscale retailers are most likely to offer non-hass varieties, Caloroso said, adding that sales are steady.

These varieties “tell the local, California story,” he said. “There is definitely a home for them.”

Probably the most popular non-hass variety at the moment is the GEM, named after University of California researcher Grey E. Martin.

It’s described as pear-shaped with rough, thick black skin that is flecked with gold, and weighs 7-11 ounces.

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GEM avocado trees have good production and are not as likely as hass varieties to be alternate bearing.

Some of Del Rey Avocado’s growers produce the GEM variety, Lucy said,

“We are cautiously optimistic on it,” he said. “We think it’s a good variety.”

The fruit grows in the interior of the tree, so Lucy is hopeful that it may be able to endure warmer weather better than other varieties, as temperatures seem to be on the rise every year.

“It seems to be a very vigorous tree,” he said.

And the fruit seems to be larger than the hass, with plenty of 36s and 40s.

“GEMS might fill in for the retailer who wants a big piece of fruit,” Lucy said.

Some promising avocado varieties failed to perform well in the past due to poor marketing, he said. So he wants to be careful when promoting the GEM.

“We need to make sure that we market it properly and don’t put it on the market too soon,” he said.

“We want to make sure that when we’re picking it and marketing it, that we’re really differentiating it, and it stands on its own.”

Eco Farms, Temecula, Calif., has sold GEM avocados for a few years, said sales director Gahl Crane.

“It’s quite good,” he said, with a flavor that is comparable to hass.

The fruit should be marketed as a premium product, he said.

“The GEM is quite attractive,” said Calavo’s Wedin.

Growers like it because production per acre is estimated to be quite a bit higher than hass variety, he said.

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